Crypto Bill In The US Seeks To Create Task Force

North Carolina House Representative Ted Budd has introduced a bill that calls for the formation of a task force to combat the use of cryptocurrency in financing terrorism and other illicit uses.

Bill H.R. 4752 was submitted to the US House of Representatives on January 10. The bill aims to establish a group dubbed the Independent Financial Technology Task Force. The bill indicates the task force will be headed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Other members would include the Attorney General, and directors from law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Secret Service.

If enacted, the group will be tasked to establish a FinTech Leadership in Innovation Fund to encourage the development of tools and programs to combat terrorists and illicit use of cryptocurrencies. The task force will provide rewards for information leading to convictions related to terrorist use of cryptocurrencies.

The bill states, “The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall establish a program to pay a reward to any person who provides information leading to the conviction of an individual involved with terrorist use of digital currencies.”

Grants would also be made available for the development of tools to detect terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies. The Secretary of the Treasury may make grants to any entities located in the US that the task force determines appropriate.